October 22: Today in Royal History

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João V, King of Portugal; Credit – Wikipedia

October 22, 1687 – Birth of Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen in Meiningen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1711, Anton Ulrich had secretly married Philippine Elisabeth Caesar, a lady-in-waiting to his elder sister. The marriage was morganatic and was met with great disapproval from his family. Anton Ulrich and Philippine Elisabeth had ten children who were not eligible to succeed to the throne. Philippine Elisabeth Caesar died in 1744.  In 1746, Friedrich Wilhelm, Anton Ulrich’s brother who had jointly reigned with him, died, and Anton Ulrich was now the only Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. His relatives had already been discussing the division of Saxe-Meiningen after his death due to the lack of heirs. However, Anton Ulrich married Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Philippsthal, who was forty-three years younger, and the couple had eight children.
Unofficial Royalty: Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

October 22, 1689 – Birth of King João V of Portugal at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal
Full name: João Francisco António José Bento Bernardo
After his mother died when he was ten years old, João V’s paternal aunt Catherine of Braganza, the widow of King Charles II of England, who returned to Portugal to live in 1693, took over the responsibilities of the care for João and remained his main female role model until her death in 1705. João succeeded his father as King of Portugal when he was seventeen years old. In 1708, João V married his first cousin Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, the daughter of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor. The couple had six children including two kings of Portugal. In 1742, 52-year-old João had a stroke and became partially paralyzed. He recovered somewhat but was left diminished and much less energetic. His wife Maria Anna served as regent for the rest of his life, until his death in 1750.
Unofficial Royalty: King João V of Portugal

October 22, 1701 – Birth of Archduchess Maria Amalie of Austria, wife of Karl VII, Holy Roman Emperor who was also Karl I, Elector of Bavaria, at Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Amalie of Austria, Holy Roman Empress, Electress of Bavaria (Article coming soon)

October 22, 1751 – Death of Willem IV, Prince of Orange at Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, Dutch Republic, now in the Netherlands; buried at Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, the Netherlands 
Six weeks before Willem IV’s birth, his 23-year-old father Johan Willem Friso, Prince of Orange drowned when the ferry he was traveling on across a wide river capsized. From the day of his birth, Willem was Prince of Orange. In 1734, Willem married Anne, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and the couple had two children. Willem IV died at age 40 from a stroke and was succeeded by his three-year-old son as Willem V with his mother Anne serving as Regent.
Unofficial Royalty: Willem IV, Prince of Orange

October 22, 1759 – Birth of Louise d’Aumont Mazarin, Hereditary Princess of Monaco, wife of the future Prince Honoré IV of Monaco, in Paris, France
Full name: Louise Félicité Victoire
Louise d’Aumont, a wealthy heiress, was the wife of Honoré IV, Prince of Monaco. However, Louise divorced Honoré before he became Prince of Monaco, and so the title she held during their marriage was Hereditary Princess of Monaco. Louise and Honoré IV had two sons, both Sovereign Princes of Monaco. In 1794, while Honoré IV was in prison during the French Revolution, Louise gave birth to an illegitimate daughter Amélie Céleste Erodore d’Aumont. The father of the child is believed to have been Antoine de Montazet, Archbishop of Lyon. After Honoré IV’s release from prison, Louise and Honoré IV’s marriage became unhappy and the couple separated. In 1798, Louise divorced Honoré IV, giving Louise sole access to her fortune.
Unofficial Royalty: Louise d’Aumont Mazarin, Hereditary Princess of Monaco

October 22, 1858 – Birth of Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, German Empress, Queen of Prussia, wife of Wilhelm II, German Emperor, King of Prussia, in Dolzig Palace in Lubsko, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland
Full name: Auguste Viktoria Friederike Luise Feodora Jenny
Known as Dona, she was a great-niece of Queen Victoria, a niece of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein who was the husband of Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Helena, and a descendant of Danish and British kings. In 1881, Dona married the future Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia. They had six sons and one daughter. When Dona became German Empress and Queen of Prussia in 1888, she took up and enjoyed the traditional roles of a consort, serving as a hostess and working with charities.
Unofficial Royalty: Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, German Empress, Queen of Prussia

October 22, 1942 – Birth of Prince Christian of Denmark, later Count Christian of Rosenborg, son of Prince Knud of Denmark and grandson of King Christian X of Denmark, at Sorgenfri Palace in Lyngby, Denmark
Full name: Christian Frederik Franz Knud Harald Carl Oluf Gustav Georg Erik
Christian was born a Prince of Denmark but did not seek the permission of King Frederik IX to marry, and therefore forfeited his succession rights and lost his royal title. He was a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Christian of Rosenborg

October 22, 2002 – Death of Queen Geraldine of the Albanians, born Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi, wife of King Zog I of the Albanians, at Tirana, Albania; buried at Sharra Cemetery in Tirana, Albania; reburied in 2012 in the newly built Royal Mausoleum in Tirana, along with husband, son, and daughter-in-law
In 1938, Geraldine married King Zog I of the Albanians. The following year, she gave birth to the couple’s only child Crown Prince Leka I. Two days later, Italian forces invaded and took control of Albania, and the royal family went into exile. After over 62 years in exile, the Albanian government changed the law in 2002, allowing the Royal Family to return to the country. In June 2002, Queen Geraldine, along with her son and his family, returned home to a massive welcome. Sadly, just five months later, Queen Geraldine of the Albanians died at a military hospital in Tirana at the age of 87.
Unofficial Royalty: Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy-Apponyi, Queen of the Albanians

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October 21: Today in Royal History

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George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence; Credit – Wikipedia

October 21, 1449 – Birth of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and brother of King Edward IV of England and King Richard III of England, at Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland
George was the son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, both great-grandchildren of King Edward III of England, and the brother of two Kings of England, Edward IV and Richard III. Though a member of the House of York, during the Wars of the Roses, George switched sides to support the Lancastrians, before reverting to the Yorkists. He was later convicted of treason against his brother, King Edward IV, and was executed.
Unofficial Royalty: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence

October 21, 1786 – Birth of Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair, Equerry to Queen Victoria’s father The Duke of Kent from 1817 – 1820 and Comptroller and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria’s mother The Duchess of Kent from 1820 – 1839, in Maes-y-Castell, Caerhun, Caernarvonshire, Wales
Conroy was a confidant and political agent to Victoria’s mother The Duchess of Kent. Together, they designed the Kensington System, an elaborate and strict system of rules for the upbringing of young Victoria, designed to make her dependent upon them in the hope of allowing them one day to wield power through her. Princess Victoria grew to hate Conroy, thanks to the oppressive system, and he was also unpopular among the rest of the British royal family. When Victoria became Queen, she immediately dismissed Conroy from her household but she could not dismiss him from her mother’s household. However, she sent both her mother and Conroy off to a distant wing of the palace and cut off personal contact with them. After Conroy’s death, the Duchess of Kent finally agreed to have her financial accounts audited and acknowledged that significant funds were missing. She admitted that Conroy had swindled her and at the same time hurt her relationship with her daughter for his own benefit.
Unofficial Royalty: Sir John Conroy, 1st Baronet of Llanbrynmair

October 21, 1969 – Birth of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain in Riffa, Bahrain
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is the eldest of the twelve children of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, who has four wives, and the eldest of the four children and the eldest of the three sons of King Hamad and his first wife and his first cousin, Sabika bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa.
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen, Princess of Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Portrait of Princess Anna by Bernhard Zickendraht, 1924, displayed in Detmold Castle; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen was the second of the two wives of Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe. Anna was born on February 10, 1886, in Büdingen, then in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in the German state of Hesse. Originally, the House of Büdingen, a noble family, held control of Büdingen but in 1816, it was given to the Grand Duchy of Hessen-Darmstadt, later the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. Anna was the youngest of the eight children and the youngest of the seven daughters Bruno, 3rd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his second wife Countess Bertha of Castell-Rüdenhausen. Her paternal grandparents were Ernst Casimir II, 2nd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his wife Countess Thekla of Erbach-Fürstenau. Anna’s maternal grandparents were Adolf, Hereditary Count of Castell-Rüdenhausen and Baroness Marie of Thüngen.

Anna had seven older siblings:

  • Princess Emma of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1870 – 1944), married Count Otto of Solms-Laubach, had four children
  • Princess Marie of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1875 – 1952), unmarried
  • Wolfgang, 4th Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1877 – 1920), married Countess Adelheid of Rechteren-Limpurg, no children
  • Princess Thekla of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1878 – 1950), married Manfred V, Prince of Collalto and San Salvatore, had four children
  • Princess Mathilde of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1880 – 1947), married Cornelius, Baron Heyl of Herrnsheim, had five children
  • Princess Helene of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1881 – 1951), unmarried
  • Princess Hertha of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1883 – 1972), married Prince Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, had one daughter Princess Ortrud of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg who married Ernst August IV, Hereditary Prince of Brunswick, Prince of Hanover – they are the parents of Prince Ernst August (V) of Hanover

Anna had two older half-sisters from her father’s first marriage to Princess Mathilde of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich:

  • Princess Hedwig of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1863 – 1925), married (1) Botho, 1st Prince of Stolberg-Rossla, had four children (2) Count Kuno of Stolberg-Rossla, no children
  • Princess Elisabeth of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1864 – 1946), married Rudolf, Baron of Thüngen, had four children

Büdingen Castle where Anna grew up; Credit – Von Sven Teschke – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31460

On November 21, 1911, at Büdingen Castle (link in German) in Büdingen, where Anna grew up, she married Count Ernst of Lippe-Weissenfeld, son of Count Franz of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Marie von Beschwitz. Less than three years later, Ernst was killed in action at Gołdap, then in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland, on the Eastern Front during World War I, on September 11, 1914.

Anna and Ernst had one daughter:

  • Princess Eleonore of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1913 – 1964), married Adolph Sweder Hubertus, Count of Rechteren-Limpurg, had two one son and one daughter

On April 26, 1922, in Büdingen, Germany, Anna became the second wife of Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, the pretender to the throne of the Principality of Lippe. Following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Leopold IV was forced to renounce the throne on November 12, 1918, by the Lippe People’s and Soldiers’ Council. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe.

Leopold and Anna had one son Armin Leopold Ernst Bruno Heinrich Willa August:

Leopold’s first wife Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld died in 1919 and upon her marriage to Leopold in 1922, Anna became the stepmother of Leopold’s five children from his first marriage:

  • Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (link in German) (1902 – 1987), married (1) Charlotte Ricken, divorced (2) Herta-Elise Weiland, had one son and one daughter
  • Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904 – 1965), unmarried
  • Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905 – 2001), married Count Hans of Kanitz, had six daughters
  • Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909 – 2000), married Veronika Holl, had one daughter
  • Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915 – 2008), married Friedrich Carl Heldman, had two daughters and one son

During the rise of Nazism in Germany, all three of Leopold’s sons by his first wife Bertha became members of the Nazi Party. The eldest son the Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the Nazi Party when he signed up in May 1928. Ernst’s brother Chlodwig joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the other brother Leopold Bernhard joined in 1932. Hereditary Prince Ernst later became an SS-Major (Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer) and held a high-ranking post in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was the agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The SS Race and Settlement Main Office was responsible for safeguarding the racial purity of the SS within Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Hereditary Prince Ernst of Lippe was taken prisoner by the Allies and took part in the Nuremberg Trials as a witness. The denazification tribunal in the Detmold administrative district classified Ernst as a Lesser Offender, Category III. He was not imprisoned but rather placed on probation for two-three years with a list of restrictions.

In addition to being pro-Nazi, both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Khlodwig had made unequal marriages. Due to these circumstances, Leopold rewrote his will in 1947, indicating that Armin, his only child with his second wife, would succeed him as the head of the House of Lippe and become the administrator of the princely family’s properties such as the Residenzschloss Detmold (link in German), thereby disinheriting all three of his sons from his first marriage.

Christ Church in Detmold; Credit – Von Daniel Brockpähler – Eigene Fotografie, bearbeitet mit Photoshop von Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8648403

Anna’s husband Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe died, aged 78, on December 30, 1949, in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was buried with his first wife Bertha at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold’s second wife Anna survived him by thirty-one years, dying on February 8, 1980, in Detmold at the age of 94, and was also buried at Christ Church.

Anna and Leopold’s son Armin was head of the House of Lippe from 1949 until his death in 2015. Armin’s only child Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 1959) succeeded him as head of the House of Lippe. Stephan married Countess Maria of Solms-Laubach and they had three sons and two daughters.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Bruno, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno,_Prince_of_Ysenburg_and_B%C3%BCdingen (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV. (Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV._(Lippe)> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • Flantzer, S. (2023) Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-iv-prince-of-lippe/ (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Mehl, Scott, 2018. Lippe Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-lippe/lippe-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
  • Petropoulos, Jonathan, 2009. Royals And The Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022a) geni_family_tree. Available at: https://www.geni.com/people/Princess-Anna-of-Ysenburg-and-B%C3%BCdingen/6000000009136870908 (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (2022) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Anna_of_Ysenburg_and_B%C3%BCdingen (Accessed: 19 July 2023).

October 20: Today in Royal History

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Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan as a child; Credit – Wikipedia

October 20, 1740 – Death of Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor at the Palais Augarten in Vienna, Austria; buried at the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna

Unofficial Royalty: Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor (article coming soon)

October 20, 1789 – Birth of Heinrich LXVII, 3rd Prince Reuss of Gera in Schleiz, then in the County of Reuss-Schleiz, later in the Principality of Reuss-Gera, now in Thuringia, Germany
In 1820, Heinrich LXVII married Princess Adelheid Reuss of Ebersdorf. They had eight children but only two survived childhood. Upon the death of his unmarried brother Heinrich LXII, 2nd Prince Reuss of Gera in 1854, Heinrich LXVII became the 3rd Prince Reuss of Gera. His reign was reactionary to the failed German Revolutions of 1848 which had demonstrated discontent with the traditional, autocratic political structure of the thirty-nine independent states of the German Confederation. Heinrich LXII’s government implemented a reactionary amendment to the constitution that limited the power of the legislature.
Unofficial Royalty: Heinrich LXVII, 3rd Prince Reuss of Gera

October 20, 1934 – Birth of Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan, wife of Emperor Emeritus  Akihito of Japan, born Michiko Shôda at the University of Tokyo Hospital in Tokyo, Japan
Michiko first met her future husband, then Crown Prince Akihito, son of Emperor Hirohito, on a tennis court in August 1957. They were married in a traditional Shinto ceremony in 1959, the first time a commoner married into the Imperial Family. The couple had two sons and one daughter. There was much speculation that Akihito’s mother strongly opposed the marriage and that after the marriage she treated her commoner daughter-in-law harshly. Michiko suffered from several nervous breakdowns because of the pressure of the media and the attitude of her mother-in-law, which resulted in making her lose her voice for seven months in the 1960s and again in the fall of 1993. While her husband was Emperor of Japan, Empress Michiko was been ever-present at the Emperor’s side, whether it be visiting the various regions of the country, or hosting visitors at the Imperial Palace. On April 30, 2019, Emperor Akihito abdicated and was succeeded by his elder son Naruhito. When her husband abdicated Michiko’s title became Jōkōgō, Empress Emerita.
Unofficial Royalty: Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan

October 20, 2012 – Wedding of Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Stephanie de Lannoy; at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
On April 26, 2012, Guillaume and Stéphanie’s engagement was announced by the Marshal of the Grand Ducal Court. They had dated for several years, although they had managed to keep it very quiet until a few months earlier. In November 2011, Guillaume mentioned publicly that he was in a relationship, and months of speculation began. The couple first met in 2004, when they were introduced by mutual friends in Germany. However, it would be five years later when they met again and soon began dating. Guillaume proposed about three weeks before the engagement was announced.
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy

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October 19: Today in Royal History

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Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France; Credit – Wikipedia

October 19, 1216 – Death of King John of England at Newark Castle in Newark, England; buried at Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England
In 1199, John succeeded his childless brother King Richard I as King of England. During his reign, John lost the French territories of Normandy, Maine, Touraine, Anjou, and Poitou, all ancestral territories of his Norman or Angevin ancestors. While John was trying to save his French territories, his discontented English barons led by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, were protesting John’s continued misgovernment of England. The result of this discontent was the best-known event of John’s reign, the Magna Carta, the “great charter” of English liberties. Among the liberties were the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown. In the midst of the First Barons’ War, John was traveling through East Anglia, from Spalding in Lincolnshire to Bishop’s Lynn, in Norfolk, became ill with dysentery, and decided to turn back, taking the longer road route. John managed to ride to Swineshead Abbey where he spent the night. The next day, he was taken by a litter to Newark Castle where he died at the age of 49.
Unofficial Royalty: King John of England

October 19, 1765 – Death of Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of King George II of Great Britain, in Hanover, Electorate of Hanover, now in the German state of Lower Saxony
Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth was the mistress of King George II of Great Britain from 1735 until the King’s death in 1760. She was the last British royal mistress to be granted a peerage title.
Unofficial Royalty: Amalie von Wallmoden, Countess of Yarmouth, mistress of King George II of Great Britain

October 19, 1851 – Death of Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, eldest daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, wife of Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême (Legitimist pretender to the French throne), at the Frohsdorf Palace in Lanzenkirchen, Austria; buried with her uncle King Charles X and her husband at the Kostanjevica Monastery in Görz, then in Austria, now Kostanjevica in Nova Gorica, Slovenia
Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte was the only one in her family to survive imprisonment in the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris, during the French Revolution. She married her first cousin Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angoulême, the son of her father’s younger brother, the future King Charles X of France. The couple had no children. After the end of the Bourbon Restoration in 1830, once again, Marie-Thérèse lived in exile, this time with the former King Charles X, her uncle and her father-in-law, and her husband Louis-Antoine. The exiles ultimately moved to the estate of Count Johann Baptist Coronini near Gorizia, which was in Austria but now in Italy. After the death of her husband, Marie-Thérèse moved to the Schloss Frohsdorf, just outside Vienna, Austria where she spent her days taking walks, reading, sewing, and praying. There she died from pneumonia at the age of 72.
Unofficial Royalty: Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, Duchess of Angoulême

October 19, 1889 – Death of King Luís I of Portugal at the Citadel of Cascais in Cascais, Portugal; buried at the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, Portugal
Luis became King of Portugal in 1861 when his elder, childless brother King Pedro V died from typhoid fever. Two other brothers also died from typhoid. In 1862, Luís married Princess Maria Pia of Savoy and the couple had two sons. Luis’ reign saw many advances, both politically and culturally. He oversaw the construction of the port of Lisbon, the extension of the road network and railway throughout Portugal, and the advancement of the arts, founding the Philharmonic Union. An avid oceanographer, Luis also donated much of his fortune to finance research ships and vessels to gather different species of sea creatures from around the world. He also established the Vasco da Gama Aquarium in Lisbon, one of the first aquariums in the world. Luís died suddenly at just 50 years old.
Unofficial Royalty: King Luis I of Portugal

October 19, 1963 – Birth of Prince Laurent of Belgium, son of King Albert II of the Belgians, at Château de Belvédère in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
Full name: Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie
In 2003, Laurent married British-born, but Belgian-raised Claire Coombs. The couple had a daughter and twin sons. Laurent has been a somewhat controversial figure. In 2018, the Belgian parliament cut Prince Laurent’s annual allowance by 15% for a year.  The sanction was imposed after Prince Laurent, in full naval uniform, attended a Chinese embassy reception in 2017 without government permission. The government had warned Laurent to ask permission from the foreign ministry before conducting any diplomatic activity. Despite that, he went to the embassy event and tweeted a photo of himself there.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Laurent of Belgium

October 19, 1972 – Death of Said bin Taimur, the former Sultan of Oman, in exile in London, United Kingdom; buried in Brookwood Cemetery in Woking, Surrey, England
In 1970, Said was overthrown in a coup d’etat by his son Qaboos bin Said Al Said, Sultan of Oman. He lived out the rest of his life in exile in the United Kingdom, living the last two years at the Dorchester Hotel in London, where he died at the age of 62.
Unofficial Royalty: Said bin Taimur, Sultan of Oman

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October 18: Today in Royal History

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King Ludwig III of Bavaria; Credit – Wikipedia

October 18, 1541 – Death of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, daughter of King Henry VII of England, wife of King James IV of Scotland, Archibald Douglas, and Henry Stewart and sister of King Henry VIII of England, at Methven Castle, Perthshire, Scotland; buried at the Carthusian Abbey of St John in Perth, Scotland
Margaret was the daughter of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch, and Elizabeth of York, the eldest child of King Edward IV of England. She married three times to James IV, King of Scots (had one surviving child James V, King of Scots, the father of Mary, Queen of Scots), Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus (had one child Lady Margaret Douglas, the mother of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley who married his first cousin Mary, Queen of Scots), and Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven (no children). After suffering a stroke, Margaret died at Methven Castle on October 18, 1541, at the age of 51. When the Tudor line died out with the death of Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1603, it was Margaret’s great-grandson James VI, King of Scots who succeeded to the English throne as King James I. Margaret is the ancestor of many past and present European royals.
Unofficial Royalty: Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots

October 18, 1744 – Death of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain, at Marlborough House in London, England; buried in the chapel at  Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England
Sarah Churchill is considered one of the most influential women in British history due to her friendship and the influence she had with Queen Anne of Great Britain. Queen Anne named Sarah Mistress of the Robes, the highest office in the royal court that could be held by a woman, Groom of the Stole, Keeper of the Privy Purse, and Ranger of Windsor Great Park. She was the first of only two women ever to be Keeper of the Privy Purse and the only woman ever to be Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Sarah exerted great influence on Queen Anne and had control over most of Anne’s existence, from her finances to the people admitted to the royal presence. However, the relationship between Sarah and Anne became increasingly strained. especially when Abigail Hill, a first cousin of Sarah, seemed to be in a position to replace her as Queen Anne’s favorite. By 1711, Sarah had lost all he positions and she and her husband John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough fell out of favor. In disgrace, Sarah and John left England and traveled in Europe for several years. Queen Anne died on August 1, 1714, the same day Sarah and John returned to England. The new King George I had a personal friendship with Sarah and John who had visited him frequently during their exile in Europe.  John was restored to his old office of Captain-General of the Army. Sarah survived her husband by twenty-two years, dying, aged 84, at Marlborough House in London, England.
Unofficial Royalty: Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, favorite of Queen Anne of Great Britain

October 18, 1831 – Birth of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia, husband of Princess Victoria, Princess Royal, at Neues Palais in Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia, now in Brandenburg, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl
Friedrich was the only son of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, King of Prussia and his wife Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. In 1858, he married Victoria, Princess Royal, the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. They had eight children including Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia. Both Prince Albert and Queen Victoria hoped that this marriage would make the ties between London and Berlin closer, and lead to a unified and liberal Germany. However, Vicky and Fritz were politically isolated and their liberal and Anglophile views clashed with the authoritarian ideas of the Minister-President of Prussia and later Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. Despite their efforts to educate their eldest son Wilhelm about the benefits of democracy, he favored his German tutors’ views of autocratic rule and became alienated from his parents. The year 1888 is called “The Year of Three Emperors” in German history. Fritz’s father Wilhelm I died on March 9, 1888, and Fritz succeeded him as Friedrich III. However, Fritz was already gravely ill with cancer of the larynx and could no longer speak, but despite this, he did his best to fulfill his obligations as Emperor. In May 1888, Fritz lamented, “I cannot die … What would happen to Germany?” Fritz reigned for only 99 days, dying at the age of 56 on June 15, 1888, and was succeeded by his son Wilhelm.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

October 18, 1884 – Death of Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick at Sibyllenort Castle in Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia now in Szczodre, Poland; buried in the crypt at Brunswick Cathedral in Brunswick, Duchy of Brunswick, now in Lower Saxony, Germany
Wilhelm was the second Duke of Brunswick, reigning from 1830 until 1884. Under Wilhelm’s regency, the Duchy of Brunswick was granted a new constitution that extended significant fundamental rights to the people. He quickly became much more popular than his brother had ever been. He let his government do much of the ruling, leaving his ministers to handle most of the government business, and spending much of his time at his estates. Wilhelm never married but he had a number of illegitimate children.
Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick

October 18, 1921 – Death of King Ludwig III of Bavaria at Nádasdy Castle in Sárvár, Hungary; buried at the Frauenkirche in Munich, Bavaria, Germany
In 1868, King Ludwig III married Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria-Este and the couple had thirteen children. In 1886, his father became Prince Regent after King Ludwig II was declared mentally incompetent. Just days later, Ludwig II died mysteriously and was succeeded by his brother King Otto. However, Otto was also mentally ill, and the regency continued. Upon his father’s death in 1912, Ludwig III succeeded him as Prince Regent for his cousin King Otto. Less than a year later, the Bavarian Parliament passed legislation allowing the Regent to assume the throne himself, provided that the regency was for reasons of incapacity, had lasted more than ten years, and there was no prospect of the Sovereign being able to reign. With overwhelming support from the parliament, Ludwig deposed his cousin and assumed the Bavarian throne as King Ludwig III. On November 13, 1918, he would be the first monarch in the German Empire to be deposed, bringing an end to 738 years of rule by the Wittelsbach dynasty.
Unofficial Royalty: Ludwig III, King of Bavaria

October 18, 1978 – Birth of Mike Tindall, husband of Zara Phillips, daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, born in Otley, West Yorkshire, England
Full name: Michael James
A former professional rugby player, Mike Tindall met Zara Phillips, daughter of The Princess Royal and eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, in Australia in 2003, during the Rugby World Cup. Their engagement was announced by Buckingham Palace in December 2010, and they were married on July 30, 2011, at the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. Mike and Zara have two daughters and one son.
Unofficial Royalty: Mike Tindall

October 18, 1989 – Death of  Princess Gina of Liechtenstein, born Countess Georgina von Wilczek, wife of Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein, in a hospital in Grabs, Switzerland; buried in the Princely Crypt at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein
In 1942, Gina became engaged to Franz Josef II, Prince of Liechtenstein and they were married the following year at St. Florian Cathedral in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. It was the first royal wedding in Liechtenstein’s history that took place in the principality. Gina and Franz Josef had five children including the present Prince of Liechtenstein, Hans-Adam II. During World War II, Princess Gina, like her mother, had concerns for prisoners of war. In 1945, she founded the Liechtenstein Red Cross and was president from 1945 to 1984. Princess Gina died six days before her 68th birthday after a long battle with cancer. Her husband Franz Josef died 26 days later.
Unofficial Royalty: Princess Gina of Liechtenstein

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

October 17: Today in Royal History

© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; Credit – Wikipedia

October 17, 1368 – Death of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, son of King Edward III of England, in Alba, Lordship of Milan, now in Italy; buried at Clare Priory in Suffolk, England
The third, but the second surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, Lionel of Antwerp, was one of the two people on whom the House of York would base its claim to the English throne during the Wars of the Roses. Lionel married the wealthy heiress Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster in her own right. Lionel and Elizabeth had one child, a daughter Philippa, who married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. It is through Philippa and Edmund’s eldest son Roger Mortimer that the House of York is derived. During the reign of the childless King Richard II, the only surviving child of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) who predeceased his father King Edward III, Lionel’s daughter Philippa was the heir presumptive to the English throne and then after her death in 1382, her eldest son Roger was the heir presumptive. In 1400, King Richard II was deposed by his first cousin Henry of Bolingbroke (King Henry IV), the eldest son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, King Edward III’s third surviving son. Thus the beginnings of the Wars of the Roses between the Lancasters and the Yorks.
Unofficial Royalty: Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence

October 17, 1680 – Death of Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth, an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by Catherine Pegge; in Tangier, Morocco; buried at Westminster Abbey in London, England
Wikipedia: Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon.)

October 17, 1734 – Birth of Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, at the family estate in Lyutkino, Russia
Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov was, along with his brother Alexei, instrumental in the fall of Catherine’s husband Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. He gave Catherine the famous Orlov Diamond which was used in the scepter of the Romanov rulers and was the father of at least one of Catherine’s children, Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky. Catherine and Orlov had a long-time relationship from 1759 – 1774, spanning the time Catherine was a Grand Duchess and Empress.
Unofficial Royalty: Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

October 17, 1819 – Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz in Neustrelitz, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Georg Ernst Adolf Gustav
Friedrich Wilhelm married Princess Augusta of Cambridge. She was the daughter of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (a son of King George III of the United Kingdom) and Friedrich Wilhelm’s maternal aunt Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel. Friedrich Wilhelm and Augusta were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers. The couple had two children. Friedrich Wilhelm became Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz upon the death of his father in 1860. He took a particular interest in restoring and building churches. He also focused much of his time on improving the education systems, as well as building and refurbishing schools throughout the Grand Duchy. Friedrich Wilhelm is credited with restoring the Grand Duchy’s financial resources, taking a country that was riddled with war debt, and amassing a great fortune in its treasury. In addition, his personal wealth made him the wealthiest of the German sovereigns at the time.
Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

October 17, 1853 – Birth of Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, daughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, wife of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, at Tsarskoe-Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia
The only daughter of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, Marie met Prince Alfred during a family holiday in Denmark in 1871. Despite the misgivings of both her parents and Alfred’s mother Queen Victoria, the couple married in 1874, at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Marie and Alfred had five children. The new Duchess of Edinburgh was not well received by British society, many of whom thought her very condescending and haughty. Used to the splendor and pageantry of the Russian court, she found the British court very dull by comparison. She also felt that, as the daughter of an Emperor, she should outrank all the other members of the British royal family, in particular, her sister-in-law, The Princess of Wales, who was merely the daughter of a king. Despite the demands of Marie and her father, Queen Victoria would not sanction anything of the sort.
Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, Duchess of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

October 17, 1966 – Birth of Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, the current pretender to the former Grand-Ducal throne of Hesse and by Rhine and Head of the House of Hesse, in Kiel in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein
Full name: Heinrich Donatus Philipp Umberton
Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse is the current pretender to the former grand ducal throne of Hesse and by Rhine, and Head of the House of Hesse. He succeeded to both upon his father’s death in 2013. Donatus maintains close ties with the British Royal Family and is often invited to events. In 2016, he was seated next to the Duchess of Cambridge at an event for Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday celebrations, and in 2021, was one of a very small group of family members invited to attend the funeral of The Duke of Edinburgh. Donatus and his wife also attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.
Unofficial Royalty: Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Holy Roman Empire was a limited elective monarchy composed of hundreds of kingdoms, principalities, duchies, counties, prince-bishoprics, and Free Imperial Cities in central Europe. The Holy Roman Empire was not really holy since, after Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530, no emperors were crowned by the pope or a bishop. It was not Roman but rather German because it was mainly in the regions of present-day Germany and Austria. It was an empire in name only – the territories it covered were mostly independent each with its own rulers. The Holy Roman Emperor directly ruled over only his family territories, and could not issue decrees and rule autonomously over the Holy Roman Empire. A Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances, including marriage alliances, made him, and his power was severely restricted by the many sovereigns of the constituent monarchies of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century, prince-electors, or electors for short, elected the Holy Roman Emperor from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Frequently but not always, it was common practice to elect the deceased Holy Roman Emperor’s heir. The Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy. No person had a legal right to the succession simply because he was related to the current Holy Roman Emperor. However, the Holy Roman Emperor could and often did, while still alive, have a relative (usually a son) elected to succeed him after his death. This elected heir apparent used the title King of the Romans.

Learn more at Unofficial Royalty: What was the Holy Roman Empire?

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Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor was also King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, and King of Croatia from 1705 – 1711, and King of Hungary from 1687 – 1711. Joseph Jacob Ignaz Johann Anton Eustachius was born in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, on July 26, 1678. He was the eldest of the ten children and the eldest of the three sons of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife and second cousin Eleonore Magdalena of Neuburg. Joseph’s paternal grandparents were Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor and the first of his three wives who was also his first cousin, Maria Anna of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Philipp Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Neuburg and Duke of Jülich-Berg and his second wife Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Joseph had nine siblings but only four survived childhood:

Joseph’s father Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor had been married twice before to Margarita Teresa of Spain and Claudia Felicitas of Austria. From these two marriages, Leopold had six children, however, all except the oldest daughter from his first wife, had died.

Joseph had one surviving half-sister from his father’s first marriage to Margarita Teresa of Spain:

Joseph at the age of six; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph was educated by Karl Theodor Otto, Prince of Salm, who was also Leopold I’s Oberhofmeister, the head of the imperial court and household, and also the first privy councilor, a position similar to a prime minister. When Joseph succeeded his father, Karl Theodor Otto remained Oberhofmeister and first privy councilor. Joseph was studious, multi-talented, and very intelligent. In 1687, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor gave his nine-year-old son the Kingdom of Hungary, one of the Habsburg hereditary lands, to rule over. In 1690, Joseph was elected King of the Romans, meaning he would be elected the next Holy Roman Emperor.

Joseph’s wife Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg; Credit – Wikipedia

On February 24, 1699, in Vienna, Joseph married Wilhelmine Amalie of Brunswick-Lüneburg, daughter of Johann Friedrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate. Joseph began having affairs at the age of 15 with maids and noble women. Wilhelmine Amalie was very pious and had received a Catholic education from her great-aunt Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate who had converted to Roman Catholicism, became a nun, and later the abbess at the Cistercian Maubuisson Abbey in France. It was thought that the pious Wilhelmine Amalie, who was five years older than Joseph, would be a positive influence on Joseph and he would then stop having affairs.

Joseph and Wilhelmine Amalie had three children but their only son died from hydrocephalus before his first birthday:

Joseph did not stop his affairs, and the affairs combined with the death of his only son took a toll on his marriage. Joseph contracted a venereal disease, probably syphilis, and probably passed the disease to his wife. The venereal disease was most likely the reason for the failure of the couple to produce more children. Without male heirs, a succession crisis developed over who would inherit the Habsburg hereditary lands of Bohemia, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary. The Holy Roman Emperor was not inherited but rather was elected by the prince-electors, or electors for short, from among the sovereigns of the constituent states.

Joseph’s father Holy Roman Leopold I was still alive and he devised the Mutual Pact of Succession, a succession device secretly signed by Joseph and his younger brother Karl in 1703. The Mutual Pact of Succession stated that the Habsburg hereditary lands would be inherited by the brothers’ respective male heirs. However, if one brother should fail to have a son, the other one would succeed him in all the Habsburg hereditary lands. If both brothers died without sons, the daughters of Joseph, the elder brother, would have absolute precedence over the daughters of Karl, the younger brother, and the eldest daughter of Joseph would ascend to the thrones of all the Habsburg hereditary lands.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor died, aged sixty-four, on May 5, 1705, in Vienna, then in the Archduchy of Austria, and his 27-year-old son Joseph succeeded him in the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor. His father had left him with the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 1715). The death of the last Spanish Habsburg King, Leopold’s childless nephew Carlos II resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession in which Leopold and then his son Holy Roman Joseph I unsuccessfully sought to give Leopold’s younger son Karl the entire Spanish inheritance, disregarding the will of the late Carlos II who had named 16-year-old Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, and the grandson of Carlos’ half-sister Maria Teresa of Austria, Infanta of Spain and her husband King Louis XIV of France, as his successor. However, Philippe of France did reign in Spain as King Felipe V, the first King of Spain from the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain.

Tomb of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I; Credit – By PaulT (Gunther Tschuch) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=132637549

Joseph’s reign lasted just six years. During the smallpox epidemic of 1711, which killed Louis, Le Grand Dauphin of France, the only surviving child and heir of King Louis XIV of France, and three siblings of the future Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Joseph also became ill with smallpox. He died, aged thirty-two, on April 17, 1711, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Joseph had promised his wife that if he survived, he would stop having affairs. Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I was buried in the Imperial Crypt at the Capuchin Church in Vienna. His tomb, designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, is decorated with images of various battles from the War of Spanish Succession.

Joseph’s brother and successor Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor; Credit – Wikipedia

Joseph’s brother Karl succeeded him as the ruler of the Habsburg hereditary lands and was elected Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. However, Karl’s only son had died in infancy and upon his death, the Habsburg hereditary lands should have gone to Joseph’s daughter Archduchess Maria Josepha of Austria as declared in the Mutual Pact of Succession. However, Karl VI’s Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 annulled the Mutual Pact of Succession and made his daughter Maria Theresa the heir to the Habsburg hereditary lands instead of Joseph’s daughter Maria Josepha. When Karl died in 1740, Maria Theresa’s succession to the Habsburg hereditary lands led to the War of Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748) which resulted in the eventual confirmation of Maria Theresa’s Habsburg titles.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of Croatia, Duke of Teschen, King of the Romans, Archduke of Further Austria, and Prince of Transylvania, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-holy-roman-emperor-king-of-hungary-king-of-bohemia-archduke-of-austria-king-of-croatia-duke-of-teschen-king-of-the-romans-archduke-of-further-austria-and-prince-of-transylv/ (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_I,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Joseph I. (HRR) (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_I._(HRR) (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Mutual Pact of Succession (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutual_Pact_of_Succession (Accessed: 19 July 2023).
  • Wheatcroft, Andrew. (1995) The Habsburgs. London: Viking.
  • Wilson, Peter H. (2016) Heart of Europe – A History of the Holy Roman Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

October 16: Today in Royal History

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Marie Antoinette, Queen of France; Credit – Wikipedia

October 16, 1430 – Birth of James II, King of Scots at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland
James II was the son of James I, King of Scots and Lady Joan Beaufort, a granddaughter of John of Gaunt who was a son of King Edward III of England. His father was assassinated and James became King of Scots at the age of six. In 1449, James II married Mary of Guelders, the eldest of the five children of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves, and the couple had seven children. In 1460, James II besieged Roxburgh Castle near the English border in support of King Henry VI. He was accidentally killed when a cannon near where he was standing exploded.
Unofficial Royalty: James II, King of Scots

October 16, 1673 – Birth of Lady Mary Tudor, an illegitimate daughter of King Charles II of England by Mary ‘Moll’ Davis
Wikipedia: Lady Mary Tudor (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon.)

October 16, 1751 – Birth of Friederike Luisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen of Prussia, second wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, in Prenzlau, Margraviate of Brandenburg, now in Brandenburg, Germany
In 1769, Friederike Luise married the future King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia as his second wife. The couple had seven children. Friederike Luise was ignored and neglected by her husband, who chose to spend his time with his official mistress, and later two additional morganatic wives. Even her husband’s uncle King, Friedrich II, who had arranged the marriage, failed to give her the support and privileges her predecessor had enjoyed. So instead of being a major part of the Prussian court, she instead lived primarily in Potsdam, rarely permitted to even visit Berlin. In 1786, her husband became King of Prussia. Friederike Luise moved to Berlin and took up her role and duties as Queen but her situation did not change.  Her husband had two bigamous, morganatic marriages. Eventually, Friederike Luise lived at Monbijou Palace, while her husband lived at the nearby Berlin Palace. Monbijou Palace would remain her primary residence for the rest of her life.
Unofficial Royalty: Friederike Luisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Queen of Prussia

October 16, 1791 – Death of Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia, in Jassy, Moldavia, now in Romania; originally buried at the Cathedral of St. Catherine in Kherson, Russia, now in Ukraine. In October 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces removed the remains of Potemkin from the Cathedral of St. Catherine. It is thought that the remains were transported to Russia.
Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin is considered Catherine the Great’s great love. In 1791, while traveling from Russia to Jassy in Moldavia, now in Romania, to negotiate the Treaty of Jassy ending the Russo-Turkish War, Grigoryi became ill with a fever. He had contracted malaria in Crimea in 1783 and his symptoms showed a reoccurrence of malaria. He refused to take quinine or other medicines the doctor accompanying him prescribed. Grigory was bothered by the humid air in Jassy and requested to be moved to Nikolaev where he thought the cooler air would do him good. However, after only seven miles, Grigory ordered the carriage to stop. He said, “This will be enough. There is no point in going on. Take me out of the carriage. I want to die on the field! ” Grigory was taken from the carriage, laid on a Persian carpet, and died, at the age of 52,  in the arms of his niece. Catherine received the news via courier a week later and collapsed saying, “Now I have no one left on whom I can rely. How can anyone replace Potemkin?” Days passed and the same report came from Catherine’s secretary, “Tears and despair, tears and more tears.”
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, lover of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia

October 16, 1793 – Execution of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria, at the Place de la Révolution in Paris, France; originally buried in a mass grave near the location of today’s La Madeleine Church in Paris, reburied at the Basilica of St. Denis near Paris
After a failed attempt to escape Paris in 1791 ended what little support was left for the monarchy, King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and their children were held under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace. In 1792, they were imprisoned at the Temple, the remains of a medieval fortress in Paris. Louis XVI was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by guillotine on January 21, 1793. On October 14, 1793, Marie Antoinette was tried by the Revolutionary Tribunal. Among other things, she was charged with organizing orgies at Versailles, sending millions in French treasury money to Austria, and planning the massacre of the National Guards. There were also charges of incest with her son. Two days later, she was found guilty of the main charges and sentenced to death. Just after noon on October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution (now the Place de la Concorde).
Unofficial Royalty: Executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, King and Queen of France
Unofficial Royalty: Maria Antonia of Austria, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France

October 16, 1796 – Death of Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia at the Castle of Moncalieri in Turin, Kingdom of Sardina, now in Italy; buried at the Basilica of Superga in Turin
In 1750, the future Vittorio Amedeo III married Infanta Maria Antonia Ferdinanda of Spain, daughter of Felipe V, King of Spain and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese. The couple had twelve children. Vittorio Amedeo III became King of Sardinia in 1773 following the death of his father. During Napoleon‘s Italian campaign, Vittorio Amedeo’s troops were defeated by the French at the 1796 Battle of Milessimo. Vittorio Amedeo was forced to sign the 1796 Treaty of Paris. The treaty stipulated that Vittorio Amedeo recognize the French Republic, cede the original Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice to France, and give the French Army free passage through his territory towards the rest of Italy. Five months after signing the devastating Treaty of Paris, Vittorio Amadeo III died from a stroke, aged 70.
Unofficial Royalty: Vittorio Amadeo III, King of Sardinia and Duke of Savoy

October 16, 1968 – Birth of Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria in Madrid, Spain
Since 2015, Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies is one of the current claimants to the headship of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and pretender to the former throne of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. The other is his distant cousin, Prince Carlo of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Castro.
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Pedro of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Duke of Calabria

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Royal Birthdays & Anniversaries: October 15 – 21

© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Below is a select list of birthdays and wedding anniversaries for current monarchies. It does not purport to be a complete list. Please see the Current Monarchies Index in the heading above for more information on current monarchies.

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64th birthday of Sarah, Duchess of York, former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York; born Sarah Ferguson at 27 Welbeck Street in Marylebone, London, England on October 15, 1959
Full name: Sarah Margaret
Unofficial Royalty: Sarah, Duchess of York

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Prince Christian of Denmark, 2023; Credit – Photo: Franne Voigt © Danish Royal House

18th birthday of Prince Christian of Denmark, son of Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark; born at the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark on October 15, 2005
Full name: Christian Valdemar Henri John
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Christian of Denmark

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60th birthday of Prince Laurent of Belgium, son of King Albert II of Belgium; born at the Château de Belvédère in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium on October 19, 1963
Full name: Laurent Benoît Baudouin Marie
Unofficial Royalty: Prince Laurent of Belgium

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Credit – Wikipedia

89th birthday of Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan, wife of Emperor Emeritus Akihito of Japan; born Michiko Shôda in Tokyo, Japan on October 20, 1934
Unofficial Royalty: Empress Emerita Michiko of Japan

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By Denis Probst – Own work, archive Denis Probst, CC BY-SA 3.0 lu, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30433678

11th wedding anniversary of Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Stephanie de Lannoy; married at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg on October 20, 2012
Unofficial Royalty: Wedding of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Stephanie de Lannoy
Unofficial Royalty: Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Unofficial Royalty: Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg

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Credit _- Wikipedia

54th birthday of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, born in Riffa, Bahrain on October 21, 1969
Unofficial Royalty: Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa

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